


Never

by alittlebitoftheuniverse



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Angst, Gen, Henry Laurens is an asshole, I suck at tags, John why aren't you there, Martha being the best person ever, So is John, single mom martha is everything
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-04
Updated: 2017-05-04
Packaged: 2018-10-27 21:01:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10816668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alittlebitoftheuniverse/pseuds/alittlebitoftheuniverse
Summary: Martha isn't stupid.She knows what they say about her. Her neighbors, her family, the ladies at church. She's Martha Laurens to them, nineteen with a two year old daughter, a high school dropout. Martha Laurens is the woman who smiles politely and deflects questions about her absent husband. Martha Laurens is the object of pitying looks. She's damaged goods.





	Never

**Author's Note:**

  * For [purearcticfire](https://archiveofourown.org/users/purearcticfire/gifts).



Martha isn't stupid.

She knows what they say about her. Her neighbors, her family, the ladies at church. She's Martha Laurens to them, nineteen with a two year old daughter, a high school dropout. Martha Laurens is the woman who smiles politely and deflects questions about her absent husband. Martha Laurens is the object of pitying looks. She's damaged goods.

Martha Manning is a woman with bags under her eyes who loves her daughter more than anything in the world and works two jobs to keep them in the one bedroom apartment they live in now. Martha Manning takes her daughter for ice cream every Sunday afternoon, no matter what. She cries everyday when she leaves Frances with the lady downstairs so she can go to work or to night school. Martha Manning wants more for her little girl than to come home exhausted every day smelling like bacon grease and syrup. Martha Manning is who she keeps inside. She's hidden away.

John's father had had next to nothing to do with her or Frances since John left, since he ran off to the army rather than face the mess they'd made. Henry Laurens had never spoken more than words to the pair of them. So Martha is more than a little surprised when the phone rings five minutes after she's finally gotten Frances to go down for a nap.

“Hello?” Martha Laurens says into the receiver.

“Martha,” Henry's voice still makes her blood boil. “How've you been?”

“I'm fine,” she starts to say, but he cuts her off.

“That's wonderful. I'm hosting a dinner party tonight, I thought I'd bring my granddaughter.”

Martha blinks. That was the last thing she'd expected. “Well,” she stammers. “I'm sorry, I have to work tonight-”

“Oh, that's fine,” Henry says coolly. “I'll come pick her up now, she'll spend the night and the housekeeper will drop her off tomorrow.”

Martha tries to process this. “Hang...Hang on...you can't come get her now, she's sleeping.”

“That's no problem, you'll have time to get her ready, I assume she has an appropriate dress?”

In an instant, Martha Laurens is gone and Martha Manning is fuming. “Excuse me?” she says, her voice cold and deadly polite. “I'm sorry, you can't come pick her up. She's taking a nap. And no, Mr. Laurens, I'm afraid Frances doesn't own a dress suitable for the occasion. Maybe next time.”

“Really, it's no trouble, I can buy-”

“I don't think so,” Martha says with a cold smile on her face. “Have a good day, Mr. Laurens.”

And she hangs up before she has time to think about what she's doing. She stands there in her kitchen for a good five minutes with her hand over her mouth as it all sinks in. The idea of letting Frances stay with that man, the same man who'd left those bruises on John's face the night when everything had come crashing down... Moving on automatic, her feet carry her down the narrow hallway to see Frances curled up in her little bed, as if to make sure she's still there. Her little girl looks so small there, her wild curls half covering her freckled face, her thumb in her mouth even though Martha had been trying to get her to break the habit.

Martha makes up her mind then and there. Henry Laurens would never come near Frances. She would not let her daughter be dressed up and paraded around to make Henry look better. Martha would never live off his pity. Never.

* * *

 

Martha Manning's on her way out of the flat with a grumpy Frances on her hip when she ran smack into him. Henry Laurens was a tall man, sending Martha stumbling back several steps, pulling Frances closer to her.

“Mr. Laurens,” she says tightly.

“Martha,” he says, and he's smiling, and he reaches out for Frances, who buries her face in her mother's, neck, clinging tight to her.

“She doesn't like strangers,” Martha says, not apologetically.

“Ah.” And Henry doesn't look happy but he drops his arms. “Martha, I came to tell you, I didn't appreciate how you spoke to me on the phone yesterday.”

Martha is so stunned, it's a long minute before she can respond. “I...I'm sorry?”

“I'm Frances' grandfather,” he says, his voice growing steadily more authoritative. “I'm sorry, but you can't keep me from seeing her.”

Martha can't help the incredulous look that flashes across her face. “And I'm her mother,” she says firmly. “I decide who sees her.”

Henry looks at her like she's stupid, like she can't possibly understand what he's saying. “Martha, I'm Jack's father-” he begins, and something in Martha snaps.

“'Jack' may have been your perfect son,” she all but snarls. “But he doesn't exist, and _John_ is Frances' father.”

Henry Laurens couldn't have looked more surprised if Martha had slapped him, and she decides this conversation is over, brushing past him to carry Frances downstairs. She pauses on the top step, and she feels vengeful for the first time in her life.

“And because John isn't here to tell you,” she adds, and she's smiling at him, “because, trust me, he'd tell you. You can go fuck yourself, Mr. Laurens. Have a lovely day.”

And she doesn't look back again.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Martha Manning deserved so much better than she got, I definitely plan to write more about her. This is a gift for purearcticfire because she inspired this fic and is generally awesome
> 
> If you liked this, come hang out with me on tumblr @sassy-laffy


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